Sunday, February 20, 2011

Black From the Blues

More of my favorite topography, mountains.

First of all, the wind has stopped blowing! This may not seem like much to you but after 21/2 days of howling, screaming wind that blew up huge clouds of snow, we are happy to have a day off before the next "mixed winter weather" arrives tomorrow. That it comes with lovely sun is a big, big plus. Those two days of spring-like teasers have some people discouraged that we will notget Spring. But it comes every year and some of the joy of it is anticipation and feeling rewarded for facing down another winter. Take that! Smack, smack!

A follow-up to the tea tasting. My husband was afraid we wouldn't get our moneys worth from the tea leaves, so he put them all together and brewed a big pot of tea. Surprisingly, it was very good. Smooth, sweet, floral. Who'da thunk it?

Today, however, we are hopscotching to the very southwest of India, to the Blue Hills of Nilgiri, right to the Iyerpadi Estate to try some of Upton Teas' Nilgiri Orange Pekoe, which is organic. Orange "Peck-hoe" refers to the leaf style, not the taste. The dry leaves are a very attractive mix of many shades of brown and appear to be chopped. They smell wonderful, fresh, sweet, woodsy, floral. I brewed it up for 4 minutes and while it was brewing, it filled the room with a really pleasant aroma of newly dried leaves on the forest floor. The tea itself is very smooth, with a nice full body, a little sweet, a little astringent, a little woodsy-dry-leaf. Truly pleasant stuff. It holds up to cream and sugar, but it is just fine on its own.

About Me

I've been reading a lot of really good blogs on tea but wanted to cover less fruity teas and since I've been a timid tea-taster, I wanted to put forth my two cups worth on more middle of the road tea. However, as I go along, I find my horizons broadening. Hooray!